rob bradford

Mike Napoli has taken a liking to this first base thing

Friday night, Napoli arrived at Fenway Park as a first baseman, as he had for every other day this season. There was no thought of catching, or anything else that goes with the position. In fact, he wouldn’t have even cracked the top three on the backstop depth chart in the Sox’ game against the Astros. And that's just fine with him.

He is now a full-time corner infielder, and the results of the new existence have been striking. And don’t think for a second that putting catching in the rear-view mirror has something to do with what’s going on.

“One-hundred percent,” said Napoli when asked if the benefits of not catching have made a difference. “I’m not saying that’s why I’m doing good, hitting and defensively. But my body definitely feels a lot better. Mentally there’s less than I have to do in a day. I would have to come in for meetings and that extra 30 minutes talking to a pitcher about a game-plan, I don’t have to do that anymore.

“You go out there tackle baseball and try to hit homers. I have a good feeling coming to the park. I like where I’m at right now.”

With his run-scoring double in the Red Sox’ 7-3 win over Houston, Napoli now has 27 RBI and 17 extra-base hits, becoming the first Sox to reach such heights over the first 23 games. He is the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat since Alex Rodriguez in 2007.

The extra-base total and 12th double is the first time any Red Sox player has ever totaled in either category for the month of April. All of this while leading the entire major leagues in RBI.

He has hit before, but maybe not with this sort of feeling.

There is a spring in Napoli’s step, some of which stems from his early-season success, while another part emanates out of breaking free of being behind the plate.

“I always thought I was agile,” he said. “I would go through the offseason workouts, I would feel really good and my body would feel good. But then I hit spring training in that first month I would feel great but after a month of catching you get the season and you’re like, ‘Where did it all go?’ I skipped all that. I didn’t go through that pounding of catching and the wear and tear. My body still feels fresh. I’m not coming out of spring training feeling like it’s the All-Star break.”

What was thought to be the bane of Napoli’s existence – the hip condition (avascular necrosis) that cut his contract from three years to one, while contributing to his positional change – might actually have still led him down a profitable path.

Not only is he finding the relief that comes with not toiling behind the plate, but the work built-in to his new maintenance program has presented a more athletic package.

“I go in there and do everything I have to do,” said Napoli, who isn’t scheduled to undergo another MRI on his hips until June. “I probably do a little more pilates, having that in my program. I still don’t do high-impact things. I won’t do squat rack or box jumps. I took those sort of things out. But it’s been good. There’s never been an issue, and there still hasn’t been one.

“I’m doing stuff to lengthen my muscles, stretching and doing pilates. I think that all helps. The training staff here has been unbelievable. Every day I go in there and we’re doing something, and it’s real work. It’s something that’s going to make myself better. We’re nipping everything in the bud so it won’t be an issue. We’re getting all the old stuff out every day. It’s been great.”

The rebuilt body has also paid off in the form of helping Napoli adjust to working around the first base bag.

He has managed to carry over the progress made with infield instructor Brian Butterfield throughout spring training into the regular season, not making his first error until Friday night. (Napoli watched a throw from catcher David Ross sail by his glove.)

“I feel really comfortable there now,” he said. “I feel like I have enough reps there now. I still haven’t seen certain things, but I always play them in my head, just working with Butter. Butter has done a great job, just Day 1, working with him I feel really good about me being out there and being able to make a play. I want the ball now. When there’s a big situation, I want them to give it to me to make a play. It’s just a comfortable feeling now where before it was like, ‘Man, I don’t want to mess this up.’

“I feel like I’m ready to make an athletic move to attack that ball. The footwork around the base, I just know what I’m doing now. Not that I didn’t know it before, I just wasn’t comfortable with it.”

After managing two hits against the Astros, Napoli is hitting .306 with a 1.005 OPS in home games (54 plate appearances). It is almost exactly in line with what he had produced during his regular season visits to Fenway as a member of the opposition, when he hit .306 with a 1.107 OPS in 70 plate appearances.

“I still really like it,” he said of hitting at Fenway. “It’s just weird that now it’s my home. It’s been good so far, though.”

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